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Free Snare Drum Samples – Ludwig Acrolite WAV Downloads | Drum Werks
Jan
Free Snare Drum Samples: Ludwig Acrolite WAV Files
Download high-quality free snare drum samples recorded with a classic Ludwig Acrolite. These royalty-free snare samples feature a bit of a different taste of these venerable Ludwig snares.
These samples feature the ever-ready Ludwig Acrolite at a medium-high tension. While the open resonance may not be for everyone’s mix, there’s plenty of headroom to apply EQ and processing. Try using a transient shaper, compression, and gate to dry these snare samples out and get the snare sound to work for you.
What’s Included in This Free Snare Sample Pack
This collection features professionally recorded snare drum samples captured with multiple mic positions for maximum versatility:
- 146 premium WAV snare samples at 24-bit/44.1 kHz quality
- Multiple velocity layers for realistic dynamics
- Clean mix, no processing. Mixed from four sources: Close mic, overheads, and room mic perspectives
- Royalty-free for use in commercial projects
- Compatible with all major DAWs (Ableton, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Pro Tools)
DOWNLOAD THESE SNARE SAMPLES!
How to Use These Snare Drum Samples
Get the most from these free snare samples:
- For tight, modern sounds: Use transient shapers and gates on the close mic
- For vintage vibe: Blend overhead and room mics with analog-style compression
- For heavy music: Layer with other snare samples for extra body
- For electronic music: Process with reverb, distortion, or bit-crushing
These samples work beautifully in sample-based drum machines like Native Instruments Battery, XLN Audio Addictive Trigger, or Slate Digital Trigger.
More Drum Samples from Drum Werks
Recording Info and Details
These samples were recorded using a Ludwig Acrolite snare drum, with a medium to tight tuning. And, as you can see in the video, we put a little muffling on the drum with our makeshift Moon Gels (window decorations that can be purchased at Target for $1 – just as effective and MUCH cheaper. We put just enough to get rid of some pronounced mid frequencies and overtones we didn’t care for.
With only four mics, this is a natural representation of a snare drum. With a Shure SM57 as the close mic on the snare, we also used SM81condenser mics as overheads about four-five feet above the snare for some air. Further away, a Cascade Microphones Vin-Jet ribbon microphone was placed about 10 feet away in a wide-open space outside of the studio office to have some control over the snare sound’s depth.
The Ludwig Acrolite is such a great drum drum. It isn’t particularly pretty and it doesn’t have a solid feel to it. It’s a cheap. light-weight aluminum drum that was introduced years ago as a student-beginner drum. Word got around though – it had a focused snare sound that had that Ludwig DNA to boot. Used, they usually run between $100-$150 (maybe more for mint condition ones) so it is still a cheap drum today. But, despite it being from such humble beginnings, it just sounds good. It basically sounds like a snare – a good old-fashioned snare that always works for the music. You can never go wrong with the ol’ Acrolite!
For tuning brought out Tune Bot Drum Tuner once we had the snare sound dialed in. It’s a great tool to record tuning values for future reference. So, when there is a tuning you like, it’s easy to get back there should the drum eventually go out of tune (which is always does after enough pounding).
This snare was measured at 292 Hz. This is tuning range that works well for this type of snare shell material and shell depth (5.5″)
We hope you enjoy these free snare samples and find some use for them in your music. If you create any music with these sounds, share it with us – it’s always rewarding to hear how the samples sound out there in the real world.
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